★★★★☆ In this non-fiction book, the author, a journalist, goes undercover to see if she can make a living working a series of minimum-wage jobs. She travels to different cities and works as a domestic house cleaner, waitress, hotel maid, dietary aide at a nursing home, and sales clerk at Walmart. She sometimes holds multiple jobs at once and works seven days a week to be able to afford food and rent.
Category: Banned books
Looking for Alaska by John Green
★★★★☆ In Looking for Alaska, Miles “Pudge” Halter leaves his hometown in Florida to go to boarding school. He doesn’t have many friends at his current school and is seeking excitement, companionship, and the “Great Perhaps” by going away to Culver Creek. He quickly bonds with his roommate, Chip “The Colonel”, and Alaska Young, the school’s most famous prankster who lives in a nearby single.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
★★★★☆ Melinda Sordino calls the cops at a late summer party, a move that gets her ostracized during her freshman year at Merryweather High School. The loss of her friends and the isolation begin to get to her, and she starts to withdraw, speaking as little as possible with art class as her only refuge.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
★★★★☆ I read this book as part of a pledge I made to read at least one banned book a month in 2023. I selected from the American Library Association’s Banned Book Guide, which includes 52 banned books. In this book, Arnold Spirit, Jr. lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation with his family and his best friend Rowdy.
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
4 stars “No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes we have no clue, yet we push it just the same.”Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why In Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah Baker is a high school student who commits suicide. Before she dies, she creates a series … Continue reading 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher